This invention relates to a device for the caring of plants and more particularly a device which can simultaneously clean and apply fluids including water, fertilizer, leaf gloss materials and the like to one or both sides of the plant leaf. As such, the device has particular utility in the caring for large broad leafed foliage plants. In this manner, then, the leaves of such plants may be moistened or a decorative material such as leaf gloss applied thereto without creating a problem as to cleanup or the contact of such materials with walls, carpeting or other decorative materials normally found in the vicinity of such plants. The invention thus forms the means by which such tasks can be carried out in a more convenient, safe and enjoyable manner.
Presently water, insecticides, leaf gloss materials, etc., are often applied to plants by means of pressure spray or misting devices either hand operated or powered by means of aerosols and the like. With such application the materials also necessarily contact furniture or other household articles in close proximity of the plants and generally create a mess which reduces one's incentive to properly care for one's plants.
It would accordingly be desirable to be able to apply such materials directly to the plant leaves.
Devices of this very general nature but not adapted for use with gentle or fragile objects such as the above discussed decorative plants are known and include those devices disclosed in the following U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,478,835 to Peacock et al.; 2,819,484 to Fouse; 2,622,256 to Vojacek; and 2,957,190 to Stark. The devices disclosed therein are adapted for cleaning use with such articles as razor blades and venetian blinds and are not suited for the purposes intended in the present application. From a structural standpoint, that patent which discloses a construction most closely resembling that of the present application is the Fouse patent issued Jan. 14, 1958, which includes a pair of rigid handles 5,6 that are pivotally connected at one end thereof and which include at opposite ends enlarged plates 17 in turn adapted to receive pads 20. The pads may be of foam rubber and accordingly may receive cleaning fluid such as water so that the venetian blinds may be simultaneously cleaned on both top and bottom surfaces thereof. The citation and above discussion of these prior art patents consitutes applicant's Prior Art Statement and in this regard a copy of each such patent is enclosed.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a device especially adapted for plant care, in which a soft combination gripping and wiping action may be imparted to the leaves of such plants whereby they may be cleaned, watered or decorative solutions applied thereto.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the aforementioned type in which opposed flexible handles are adapted to softly grip opposite sides of a plant leaf simultaneously.
A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a construction of the immediately aforementioned type in which the design of such is especially adapted to move between adjacent leaves of such plants so as to care for one such leaf without necessarily contacting adjacent or surrounding leaves.
These and other objects of the invention are provided by a device including opposite generally flat flexible arms having enlarged headed portions in turn adapted to receive a pad of liquid absorbent material. The other ends of the arms are adapted to be interconnected so as to be outwardly biased from each other in a normally open non-use position whereby the arms may be moved towards each other so that the pads contact each other so as to simultaneously contact and apply a soft but effective wiping action to both sides of a leaf.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.